Lebanon: a day in the life

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With original music by Rama's Whisper, 24 hours in the lives of the People of Lebanon, a teaser for the upcoming short film, Finding Lebanon, and feature length documentary film, Growing Cedars in Air.

Ask anyone you meet, what they know about Lebanon and you will invariably receive one or both of the following replies:

“Oh, yeah, Beirut! It was once the Riviera of the Middle East. Great place to party!” Or “A damn shame what war has done to that country, poor people.”

If Lebanon has seen nothing but war and parties for the last 40 years with no culture of its own, then how could it have provided so much to world culture in the sciences, arts, design, fashion, music, world politics, business and entertainment?

“Growing Cedars in Air” is a indie documentary video project about personal discovery of what it means to be Lebanese…about the living heritage and unique culture that has allowed Lebanese to flourish wherever they settle. ”Ever since I can remember, I have wanted to go home. Not my parents house in whatever country they happened to be living in, at that time. But my ancestral home, the land of my dreams: burnt earth under olive trees and rocky hillsides shadowed by secular cedars, their roots reaching deep into the core of the earth….my earth…my roots.” Mark Abouzeid, director of Growing Cedars in Air.

These films gather Lebanese people of all walks, local and abroad, to tell their own stories of Lebanon and their lives across recent history, including: